Female writers have taken almost all the prizes at the Australian Book Industry Awards 2023

Female writers are absolutely killing it, taking almost all the prizes at the Australian book industry’s night of nights.

Nagi Maehashi from the popular Recipe Tin Eats website/cookbook.

Female writers have dominated this year’s Australian Book Industry Awards, taking the prizes for fiction, nonfiction, literary fiction, biography, new writer, picture book, older children’s book, illustrated book, international book, small publishers’ children’s book, as well as the overall prize, Book of the Year, which went to Nagi Maehashi for her wildly popular cookbook, Recipe Tin Eats: Dinner.

It is believed to be the first time (full records are not for some reason available) a cookbook has taken out Book of the Year, which is the main prize at the book industry’s so-called “night of nights.”

Maehashi’s comfort food recipes came to prominence during Covid. Her success was built upon the sunny personality she displays on her website; and the ease of preparation (some of her dishes have just a handful of ingredients, most of which you can get at the local supermarket).

Her fans also adore her friendly dog, Dozer.

Nagi Maehashi’s friendly dog Dozer is an important part of the success of her website, and her book. Picture: Rob Palmer

The ABIAs are kept secret from the recipients, meaning Maehashi couldn’t be interviewed ahead of Thursday evening’s event at Sydney’s Doltone House, but she told The Australian last year that she could hardly believe sales numbers for her book, which shot to No. 1 upon release.

According to Neilson BookScan, it set records for the fastest-selling cookbook since records began when published in October 2022. With more than 37,000 copies sold in its first week, it also broke the record for the highest-selling title from a debut Australian author.

It stayed at No. 1 until Scott Pape released the Barefoot Kids book in November. And all this from a cook who told The Australian: “I was so lazy as a kid, I don’t think I even did the dishes.”

The ABIAs celebrate success in the book world, as measured by sales, as well as positioning, editing, marketing and promotion, as much as content. The Australian book industry publishes more than 7000 new books annually but only a handful sell more than 2000 copies. These prizes are for the success stories.

The winners are selected by the ABIA Academy, comprising more than 250 publishers, booksellers, agents, media and industry representatives.

The judges said Maehashi had been able to “push through a crowded market.” The book included 150 recipes, each with a QR code, which linked to a video tutorial.

The Fiction Book of the Year was awarded to Hayley Scrivenor for Dirt Town (Pan Macmillan Australia); the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year was taken out by Shelley Burr for Wake (Hachette Australia); and Ash Barty won Biography of the Year for My Dream Time (HarperCollins) which was serendipitously published just as she announced her retirement. It has continued to sell, as she announced a wedding and a baby.

Eddie Betts’s The Boy from Boomerang Crescent (Simon & Schuster Australia) received a social impact prize; and Tim Winton was inducted into the Hall of Fame in celebration of his 40-year literary career.

Allen & Unwin’s Jane Palfreyman was awarded Commissioning Editor of the Year, and Allen & Unwin was named publisher of the year. Craig Silvey’s Runt won Book of the Year for younger children, and Geraldine Brooks won the literary fiction prize for Horse.

Australian Book Industry Award Winners 2023

ABIA Book of the Year

• RecipeTin Eats: Dinner, Nagi Maehashi (Pan Macmillan Australia)

Audio Book of the Year

• The Whitewash, Siang Lu (Wavesound)

Biography Book of the Year

• My Dream Time, Ash Barty (HarperCollins Publishers)

Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)

• Blood Traitor, Lynette Noni (Penguin Random House Australia)

Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7–12)

• Runt, Craig Silvey, illustrated by Sara Acton (Allen & Unwin)

Children’s Picture Book of the Year (ages 0–6)

• What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say, Davina Bell and Hilary Jean Tapper (Hachette

Australia, Lothian Children’s Books)

General Fiction Book of the Year

• Dirt Town, Hayley Scrivenor (Pan Macmillan Australia)

General Non-Fiction Book of the Year

• Bulldozed, Niki Savva (Scribe)

Illustrated Book of the Year

• RecipeTin Eats: Dinner, Nagi Maehashi (Pan Macmillan Australia)

International Book of the Year

• Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (Penguin Random House, Doubleday UK)

Literary Fiction Book of the Year

• Horse, Geraldine Brooks (Hachette Australia)

Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year

• The Dreaming Path, Paul Callaghan (Pantera Press)

Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year

• Off to the Market, Alice Oehr (Scribe Publications, Scribble)

Social Impact Book of the Year

• The Boy from Boomerang Crescent, Eddie Betts (Simon & Schuster Australia)

The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

• Wake, Shelley Burr (Hachette Australia)

Publisher of the Year

• Allen & Unwin

Commissioning Editor of the Year

• Jane Palfreyman

Lloyd O’Neil Hall of Fame Award

• Tim Winton

Pixie O’Harris Award

• Lisa Berryman

Book Retailer of the Year

• Big W

Bookshop of the Year

• Matilda Bookshop

Marketing Strategy of the Year

• Stolen Focus (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Small Publisher of the Year

• University of Queensland Press (UQP)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks has won the Australian Book Industry Awards prize for her literary fiction for her sixth novel, Horse.